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Yes / Objective: Numerous studies have demonstrated the existence and effect of normative misperceptions on heavy episodic drinking behavior. However, there has been little work on these processes or application of normative-belief interventions outside the U.S. college system. The aim of the current study, therefore, was to investigate heavy episodic drinking and normative misperceptions in a U.K. university setting. Method: An email containing a link to a survey Web site was distributed to all current undergraduate students at the University of Paisley, Scotland. In addition to age and gender questions, the survey contained items on students¿ personal behavior and perception of the level of that behavior in three groups of increasing social distance: close friends, other students of the same age, and other people of the same age in U.K. society in general. Results: Completed surveys from 500 respondents were returned. In keeping with previous research, significant correlations were found between the respondents¿ behavior and the perception of that behavior in others, with beliefs about the most proximal individuals being the most strongly correlated. The majority of respondents were also found to overestimate alcohol consumption in other students. An age effect was noted, in which misperceptions appeared to decrease with age but did not vary between genders. Conclusions: The findings of the study indicate that the normative-belief alcohol consumption processes that have been found on U.S. college campuses also operate in U.K. university settings. This raises the possibility of applying social-norms interventions from the United States to the United Kingdom and potentially elsewhere in the world. Furthermore, the study noted apparent age effects in the degree of misperception, the implications of which are discussed

<p dir="ltr">Alcohol is the most frequently used drug among adolescents and is commonly consumed through binge drinking. This pattern involves repeated rapid and heavy consumption of alcohol followed by abstinence. Continued binge drinking can result in increased susceptibility to drink during adulthood and a higher risk of adverse health issues, including cognitive impairment. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus (HIPP) are two of the main regions affected by binge drinking, which may lead to individuals experiencing impairment in cognitive processes such as sensorimotor gating and object recognition memory. However, the mechanisms underlying these processes can be complex. Extensive research needs to be conducted to examine the effects adolescent alcohol consumption can have on cognitive processing. A critical note is using an appropriate model to effectively study this relationship. The purpose of this work was to investigate the association between adolescent binge-like alcohol consumption, cognition-related behaviors, and neuroinflammatory responses in crossed high alcohol-preferring (cHAP) mice, a unique selectively bred mouse model for binge alcohol drinking and its consequences in humans.</p><p dir="ltr">Results showed alcohol history mice increased alcohol intake from adolescence to early adulthood, with females displaying faster escalation. Sensorimotor gating was impaired in the alcohol history group at the 112dB pulse intensity one week after alcohol consumption. Alcohol history male mice exhibited impairment in object recognition memory while females did not. IL-1β and TNF-α in the PFC and HIPP did not vary based on alcohol history or sex. These data provide information on the validity of cHAPs as a model of adolescent to early adulthood binge drinking. Our findings allow a foundation for future research to delineate the effect adolescent binge drinking has on various cognitive processes that are modulated by overlapping brain regions. This will aid in not only educating the public to facilitate more conscious actions but also provide potential therapeutic targets and interventions for those with alcohol use disorder (AUD).</p>

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Extrasynaptic GABAA receptors, often identified as those containing both α4 and δ subunits, appear to be a target for the actions of alcohol (ethanol) at relatively low concentrations, perhaps suppressing the activity of GABAergic interneurons which regulate activity in the mesolimbocortical circuit. Pharmacological studies in rodents using the δ-subunit selective agonist Gaboxadol (THIP) have found both promotional and inhibitory effects on alcohol consumption. The goal of this project was to determine the role of extrasynaptic GABAA receptors located in the infralimbic cortex (ILC) in the binge-like alcohol intake of male C57BL/6J (B6) mice. The ILC is of interest due to its demonstrated involvement in stress reactivity and alcohol exposure has been shown to interfere with extinction learning; impairments of which may be related to inflexible behavior (i.e. problematic alcohol consumption). Adult male B6 mice were bilaterally implanted with stainless steel guide cannulae aimed at the ILC and were offered limited access to 20% ethanol or 5% sucrose for 6 days. On day 7, mice were bilaterally injected with 50 or 100 ng THIP (25 or 50 ng per side respectively) or saline vehicle into the ILC. It was found that the highest dose of THIP (100 ng/mouse) increased alcohol intake relative to vehicle controls, although control animals consumed relatively little ethanol following infusion. Furthermore, THIP had no effect on sucrose consumption (p > 0.05), suggesting that the effect of THIP was selective for ethanol consumption. Together, these findings suggest that the mice that consumed ethanol may have been particularly reactive to the microinfusion process relative to animals that consumed sucrose, perhaps because ethanol consumption was not as reinforcing as sucrose consumption. In addition, the observation that THIP effectively prevented the decrease in ethanol intake on day 7 induced by the microinjection process may be related to a role for the ILC in adaptive learning processes, which in turn, promote behavioral flexibility.

Objective: Numerous studies trying to find the causes and implications of binge drinking on college campuses have focused their attention on the heavy drinkers. The purpose of this study was to understand why and how college students choose to abstain from drinking. The study also examined the experiences of the abstaining college students on a campus where 83% of the student body drinks. Methods: Twelve undergraduate students from the University of Richmond participated in this qualitative study. Individual interviews using open-ended questions were conducted to ascertain the reasons for their abstinence and their experiences as college students. After the interviews, the 12 students were assigned to focus groups to discuss and compare their experiences and to test emergent themes.Results: The three most often mentioned reasons for the decision to abstain were (a) they wanted to maintain control over their body and environment, (b) it is illegal to drink under age 21 and (c) they did not want to disappoint their parents. The students described needing strong personal convictions about the decision to abstain in order to stand up to social pressures to fit in. Most of the students (11) made the decision during their high school years. A supportive network of peers and high parental expectations helped solidify the decision to abstain throughout high school. The transition period into college and the development of a social network is the most difficult time to be an abstainer, since most social activities revolve around drinking. The meaning they gave to their experience on campus was that it is more difficult to develop a social network as an abstainer, but the relationships are deeper and more genuine than those developed over nights of drinking. Conclusions: The choice to abstain from drinking is often made during high school and maintained through social support. The transition into college and the lack of a social network is a tenuous period during which the decision to abstain is challenged. University administrators need to look into alternative ways in which new students can develop their social network where drinking is not the primary focus.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Jared A. Durtschi and Sandra M. Stith / Early binge drinking (i.e., five or more drinks on a single occasion) is associated with a greater risk of later substance abuse or dependence, and other non-alcohol related problems in adulthood, (e.g., adult civil or criminal convictions). Identifying alcohol use trajectories has mainly been limited to within single developmental periods (i.e., adolescence or emerging adulthood) or between developmental periods up until around the legal drinking age. Using N = 1,864 adolescents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) dataset, this paper sought to identify trajectories of binge drinking beginning in adolescence and into adulthood using growth mixture modeling. Family factors (e.g., parent-child communication, shared activities, connectedness, and parental control) were used to predict the various trajectories. Two class trajectories were identified, a low initial-escalating group (87%), and a high initial-deescalating group (13%). Being male and having more close friends using alcohol were predictive of a greater likelihood of being in the high initial-deescalating group. Results can inform therapeutic interventions in an effort to affect an adolescent’s trajectory of use and reduce the risk of long-term heavy alcohol use.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:38:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rafaela Boiczuk de Toledo.pdf: 4600791 bytes, checksum: 2fbb2a93b296ec9dd1de177661c46d82 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-15 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The present study aimed to investigate the binge drinking and excessive drinking among a group of young college students, in order to comprehend which motivations, perceptions and fantasies are involved in the compulsive alcohol drinking. The binge drinking is a harmful alcohol consumption pattern very common among the university population, able to cause various harmful consequences. Population consisted of 21 college students, 11 women and 10 men, aged between 20 and 30 years old, from several graduation courses in the city of Curitiba and who had at least one episode of binge drinking in the last year. There were conducted interviews and applied three instruments on each participants (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, Social Adjustment Scale Factor / Neuroticism and projective technique of drawing with themed story). The material collected was analyzed qualitatively using Bardin s Content Analysis. Theoretically the analysis was based on the assumptions of Analytical Psychology. It was concluded that the excessive drinking and binge drinking are part of the studied sample s daily life indicating a trivialization of binge drinking among these young people, who are not able to symbolize their psychological suffering therefore they adopt a regressive and compulsive posture / O presente estudo teve por finalidade investigar o binge drinking e o consumo excessivo de bebida alcoólica em um grupo de jovens universitários, a fim de compreender quais são as motivações, percepções e fantasias envolvidas na ingestão compulsiva de álcool. O binge drinking é um padrão nocivo de consumo de bebida alcoólica muito comum entre a população universitária, capaz de acarretar diferentes consequências danosas. A população foi composta por 21 estudantes universitários, 11 mulheres e 10 homens, com idades entre 20 e 30 anos, de diversos cursos de graduação na cidade de Curitiba e que tiveram pelo menos um episódio de binge drinking no último ano. Foram realizadas entrevistas e aplicados três instrumentos a cada participante (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, Escala Fatorial de Ajustamento Social/Neuroticismo e a técnica projetiva de Desenho temático com história). O material coletado foi analisado qualitativamente por meio de categorias baseadas na Análise de Conteúdo segundo Bardin. Teoricamente a análise fundamentou-se nos pressupostos da Psicologia Analítica. Conclui-se que o consumo excessivo de bebida alcoólica e o binge drinking fazem parte do cotidiano da amostra estudada havendo uma banalização do abuso de bebida entre esses jovens, que não conseguem simbolizar o sofrimento psíquico e adotam atitudes regressivas e compulsivas